1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an object image capture apparatus and method, and, more particularly, to an object image capture apparatus and method which effectively improves the capture of object information in video surveillance, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Human Robot Interaction (HRI), and smart appliance fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies for detecting and tracking an object or an interest region using a video image captured by a camera have been applied to various regions, such as a video surveillance system based on a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), a user interface based on a gesture, human identification at a distance, an intelligent vehicle, and robot vision processing. Such an application system should essentially obtain detailed image information by effectively searching for a region in which an object or a motion was detected from a long distance away.
First, the simplest moving object tracking method corresponds to a technology for obtaining and analyzing an image in a predetermined region using one or more fixed camera apparatuses, thereby detecting an object. A second moving object tracking method corresponds to a technology for using a camera apparatus which can be controlled by a security and surveillance system in a Pan/Tilt/Zooming (PTZ) manner, with the result that the camera apparatus is manually controlled at a remote place, so that an image is obtained in a desired region and the obtained image is analyzed, thereby detecting a target. However, a method of tracking a moving object using a manual operation from among existing methods reaches the limit because the number of cameras increases in geometric progression. Further, conventional moving object tracking methods are lacking in flexibility in terms of the mutual cooperation between camera apparatuses used to effectively track a moving object. Therefore, conventional moving object tracking methods have problems in that effective performance cannot be provided to systems for controlling a camera and tracking a moving object at high speed, and in that the advantages of the camera systems, which can be controlled in a PTZ manner, cannot be effectively used.